


Through My Veins

by OliviaVeggieGurl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forgive any crappy mistakes, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't written in a couple years, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, M/M, Mild Language, Season/Series 03 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaVeggieGurl/pseuds/OliviaVeggieGurl
Summary: Shiro is missing and Keith is slowly falling apart as new leader of Voltron. Allura goes to drastic measures in order to get Keith to rest while the rest of the paladins disagree with her methods.





	Through My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm Olivia and I'm new to this site and this fandom but I've already watched the series through twice in a couple weeks time (between working and sleeping lol). 
> 
> I ship Keith/Shiro and Keith/Lance, not sure about Shiro/Keith/Lance yet. Pidge is one of my fav characters and Hunk is basically a male version of myself tbh. So, I guess I love this series because I grew up watching the lame one (Voltron Force) and just loved the whole idea of Voltron. Legendary Defender is definitely better than Voltron Force (I can't believe I actually watched that garbage). 
> 
> Anyway, feedback would be nice. Enjoy!

Keith huffed as he went through his stances. He had to be at the top of his game if he was to lead the paladins after Shiro’s absence. Shiro…  
Keith let out an angry grunt as he formed his bayard. “Start training level one sequence,” he growled out as he narrowed his eyes at the droid.  
The training droid became taut and got in a fighting stance. Keith stared at the droid, waiting for it to make the first move. The droid suddenly lunged forward, causing Keith to lean left before making a full turn and slicing at the droid. As he turned to face the droid again, he let a satisfied smirk cross his face as the droid powered down easily.  
“Begin level two,” he bit out as the training room door slid open.  
Keith rolled his eyes as he saw Lance enter the room. He decided to ignore the now red paladin in favor of defeating the droid again. Keith could see Lance watching out of the corner of his eye after a few minutes had passed and he had defeated the droid yet again. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.  
“What do you want?” he growled as he quickly turned to face Lance.  
Lance stood from leaning against the wall. “Hunk said that dinner’s ready, and he wants you to come eat with us while the food’s still hot.” Lance started walking toward Keith, making Keith take a small step back in annoyance.  
“I’m not hungry,” Keith snapped before he turned back to the droid. “Begin training level three sequence.”  
“Are you sure you wanna skip dinner?” Lance smirked as he watched Keith battle the droid. “Remember the last time you skipped out on one of Hunk’s meals?”  
Keith paused for a tick before ducking out of the droid’s way. “Fine, I’ll be there in five minutes,” he finally huffed out.  
“Alright, I’ll let him know,” Lance grinned, the grin turning into a small frown once his back was turned to Keith. To be honest, Lance was rather worried about Keith. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.  
Keith had been very distant from the rest of the team since Shiro’s disappearance. He had been going on hunts in search of Shiro, holing himself up in his room, or battling the droid on the training deck. He hadn’t once sat down with his team to discuss anything, not even pleasantries at a meal. If he did eat, it was usually done in the privacy of his room.  
Lance let out a sigh as he headed toward the dining area. He really hated the plan that Allura and Coran had come up with but he did agree that Keith needed at least a couple nights of sleep, even if it was forced. As Lance entered the dining area, Allura walked up to him.  
“Well?” she asked, glancing from Hunk to Lance. Hunk was holding a plate of colorful Altean food in his hands.  
“He’s coming,” Lance sighed, deciding to sit next to Pidge at the table.  
Pidge let out a sigh of her own. “I guess it’s for the best,” she mumbled, pushing the neon green goo around on her plate. “We need him alert if the Galra ever decide to fight us again.”  
“Isn’t there some other way we could do this?” Hunk asked tentatively as he glanced over at Allura.  
“Well, I have been studying the schematics of the human body,” Coran piped up, “And I guess we could knock him out with a pressure point. He would be sore the next morning, though.”  
“I believe sedating him is our best bet,” Allura explained softly. “I do understand that you three wish we not do it at all, but as Pidge said, Keith needs to be well rested if we are to fight the Galra again. Right now, he is a bit sluggish and unfocused, and when he does focus, it’s on his anger. I feel that if we sedate him this one time, we could possibly use it as black mail to get him to rest willingly.”  
“If we do end up doing this, he could always just refuse to eat,” Hunk pointed out. “Or he’d probably start fixing his own meals.”  
Allura glanced down at the ground as she spoke, “Do you have a better idea?”  
Hunk let out a soft sigh. “No,” he admitted.  
“All—”  
Suddenly, the doors slid open and Keith appeared. He was freshly showered but there were deep, dark bags under his eyes. He had been plagued by nightmares and doubts since Shiro’s absence. What if he couldn’t lead the team like Shiro had wanted? What if he wasn’t cut out for it and led the team into danger? What if he caused another disappearance by his lack of leading skills?  
So many thoughts swirled in his mind as he sat down at the table, unaware of all the stares he was receiving by the others in the room.  
Hunk eventually cleared his throat as he set two plates on the table, one in front of Keith and the other in front of Lance. “Dig in,” he mumbled, forcing a smile on his face.  
Lance started eating first, hoping to silently encourage Keith to begin. After a tense silence, only noticed by the other five in the room, Keith picked up his spoon and began to eat the pink and green colored food that looked to be similar to sushi. Pidge, Allura and eventually Hunk began to eat as well as Coran stood by Allura’s side. All that could be heard was silverware scraping against the plates.  
Finally, Allura cleared her throat. “So, Keith, any plans on how we should approach the new ruler of the Galra?”  
Keith shrugged as he looked down at his plate. “As you know, the last time we faced Lotor, I put everyone’s lives in danger over my anger.”  
Everyone nodded, Pidge letting out an affirmed noise.  
“I just feel like I need to think about this deeper before deciding for us to face him again,” Keith sighed, rubbing his temples. “I’ve been going over a few plans but none have felt correct yet.”  
“Maybe you need to rest a bit before going over strategies again,” Allura suggested. “It’s not as if Lotor can track us like Zarkon could. We have some time.”  
“Is it enough time, though?” Keith questioned to no one in particular. “The longer we plan, the longer Lotor has to conquer other planets. So far, he has always been one step ahead of us. We need to come up with a strategy and fast.”  
Pidge let out a thoughtful hum. “Can’t you go over some of your plans with us?” she asked as her gaze turned to his face. “I mean, we are a team after all.”  
“Yeah,” Hunk agreed in between bites of food. “You don’t have to do all of this alone. You only make up the head of Voltron anyway. You’ll need your arms and legs in order to defeat Lotor.”  
Keith glanced over at Pidge before turning to Hunk. A small smile formed on his face. “You guys are right,” he admitted. “I guess I’ve just been so focused on doing what Shiro would do, that I didn’t think to include my team.”  
Pidge let out a snort of amusement. “Even Shiro would’ve filled us in by now,” she giggled.  
Keith had the decency to blush. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he smirked over at her. “Anyways, I guess I’ll bring some of my notes to the control room after dinner.” He suddenly blinked a bit slowly, gazing around the room in a sluggishly confused manner. “Is the castle stable?” his words were started to slur a bit.  
Allura, ever the perfect actress, peered at Keith in confusion. “No, my data shows that the castle is well off.” She glanced over at Coran before looking over at Keith again. “Are you alright?”  
Keith shook his head a bit. “Yeah, just a bit dizzy,” he mumbled, his spoon suddenly slipping out of his grip.  
Keith gazed at his spoon on the table before looking at his hand. Everyone could see the gears in his head turning, albeit slowly. Suddenly he snapped his head over to Hunk, eyes narrowing.  
“What did you put in this stuff?” he asked slowly, tongue seeming to have trouble moving properly in his mouth. He then glared at Allura accusingly. “You planned this! You spiked my food!” He growled as he struggled to his feet.  
His knees suddenly buckled and he would’ve fallen had it not been for Lance’s quick reflexes. Keith struggled out of Lance’s grip, bracing himself against the table. He peered at every single person in the room, eyes narrowed and face guarded.  
“Why would you do this to me?” he mumbled, sounding betrayed. His legs slowly gave out again and he sank to the smooth, cold floor.  
Lance squatted down next to him, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he sighed, looking into Keith’s deep violet eyes. “Allura thought—”  
“I knew it was you,” Keith snapped as he tried to glare at her from the floor. “My own team would never decide to drug me on their own.”  
Allura’s face suddenly flushed with anger. She abruptly stood from the table, her chair flying across the room in the process. “Shiro would never neglect his own health for the team or the universe. He would’ve made sure he was fit enough to battle the Galra without risk of passing out on the battlefield. You have been neglecting your sleep patterns and health in general. You need rest, whether it’s forced or not.”  
“Fuck you,” Keith mumbled as his eyelids fluttered. “Fuck all of you.”  
After a couple of ticks, Keith’s eyes shut and he slumped against Lance. Lance let out a breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding before he looked over at Allura.  
“I thought he was supposed to pass out after sixty ticks,” he mumbled, glancing back down at Keith’s limp form. “That was way longer than sixty ticks.”  
“I agree,” Pidge said. “I was timing it. That was over eighty ticks altogether. What happened? Did something go wrong?”  
Allura let out a sigh of exasperation as she plopped back down in her chair, which Coran had fetched after it had flown across the room. “I believe he was fighting it too much for the fatigue to put him under quicker,” she admitted. “He does have a fighting spirit after all.”  
Pidge suddenly pushed her chair back so she could wrap her arms around her drawn legs. “That was horrible,” she whispered before burying her face in her knees.  
“I agree,” Hunk mumbled as he glanced down at Keith. “I didn’t think he would’ve fought it so hard.”  
“He needs the rest,” Allura sighed. “We all do.”  
“Let’s take him to his room,” Lance said as he looked over at Hunk. “Can you carry him?”  
Hunk rolled his eyes. “Of course I can carry him,” he snickered. “He’s almost as light as Pidge these days.” Hunk headed over to Lance and gently took Keith from Lance’s grasp.  
“Thanks buddy,” Lance mumbled, watching as Hunk slung Keith over his left shoulder.  
Hunk just nodded before leaving the dining area and heading off to Keith’s room, Lance trudging behind him. The door to Keith’s room slid open and Lance pulled back the covers of the bed before Hunk carefully placed Keith down onto it. Lance gently pulled the covers up to Keith’s chin before giving out a sad sigh.  
“He really doesn’t look well, does he?” he whispered, mostly to himself.  
Hunk let out a sigh of his own. “No,” he agreed. “He’s lost quite a bit of weight from all the training and lack of eating he’s been doing. His face almost looks gaunt.”  
“Yeah,” Lance nodded as he gazed at Keith’s relaxed face. “Look at the dark circles under his eyes.” He frowned as Keith’s brows suddenly knitted together. “You think he’s having a bad dream?”  
“I don’t know,” Hunk replied. “We should leave him be, though. Come on, let’s go finish eating. Pidge probably needs some cheering up anyhow.”  
Lance nodded in agreement, following after Hunk’s large form before pausing to take one last look at Keith. Finally, Lance exited the room, letting the door slid closed behind him.


End file.
